Bridalwave column – My Eco-friendly Wedding

Part One: The VenueLet’s not beat about the bush: when it comes to your wedding day, it really is all about *you*. But there’s no reason why the happiest day of your life (or one of them, at least!) has to come at the earth’s expense. At least, that’s what I think.

This year, after 12 years together, and 8 years of happily living in sin, Al and I finally decided it was time to get our act together and get married. But since we’re both a couple of eco-bores, we thought it was only right that we try to do the whole thing with minimal impact on the environment. I’ll be sharing all my experiences here in this weekly column, so if you’ve got any suggestions or can provide any personal experiences, please do leave me some comments – or contact me on shinykatie[at]gmail.com – I’d love your help!

Keep reading for the first instalment – The Venue

The Venue

The wedding is this July, and since I’m very far from being the stereotypical excited bride, I’ve been hugely disorganised about getting the whole thing going. However, one thing I did manage to crack fairly early on was the venue. Initially, I had big fantasies about a village fayre/festival vibe to the whole day, with a carousel, coconut shy and people camping in beautiful bell tents surrounded by meadowland. I soon begun to stare longingly at sites such as Green & Away, who provide eco-friendly tented conference facilities in the Worcester countryside, Tortuga Tent Hire, as well as countless Yurt-providing marquee hire companies.

However, much as I love the idea of a wedding in the great outdoors, our desire to do as little organising as possible, and the presence of some elderly and infirm relatives (as well as some who just “can’t bear the draft”), made us scale back our grand plans. Instead, we started to look at barn venues finally settling on Penrhos Court in Herefordshire. Not only can a lot of people stay over in the actual venue, we can also keep some of that festival vibe alive thanks to the neighbouring farmer’s field, where guests are allowed to camp (if you ask nicely). And thanks to Daphne Lambert, owner and chef, we don’t even have to worry about the food, since it’s all seasonal and organic anyway (though they don’t offer tastings, so we’re just going to have to trust that it will all be as delicious as all the reviews suggest).

So the venue has been sorted, and now we’ve just got to sort out the flowers, the rings, the honeymoon, and then, of course, there’s the small matter of a wedding dress. If anyone has any suggestions for dresses, I would love to hear them – I haven’t even begun trying any on yet and I’m feeling a vague sense of panic beginning to creep in.

Katie Lee is co-founder and editorial director of Shiny Media. She’s getting married in July because her sister bribed her with promises of organising the whole thing and then promptly got herself up the duff.

Yeah, I’ve looked at a few ethical bridal stores, but I couldn’t find any styles I liked. I love the idea of updating an old dress though JustaRabbit! My big problem is that while I want to look fabulous, I’m actually really unexcited about the prospect of having to have an opinion on what sort of dress to wear.

Maybe I just need to get into a few stores, try on some different styles and once I actually get excited about something I can find an ethical source for something similar.

The column or the fact that I’m getting married? I’ve been pretty quiet about both so I don’t blame you!

zoe

Hi Katie,

I’ve just started a business called Brides of Bath. It’s a designer wedding dress agency that recycles pre-owned dresses and accessories. I have 2 young children, so I run it from my small converted loft room at home so that my work can be flexible around them. My website is called bridesofbath.co.uk – have a look and see if there’s anything in the Dress Collection that you like… I have 3 more size 12’s to photograph and add this week, and a couple more size 8’s due in soon. Please get in touch if you’d like to know more. Zoe

Thanks Zoe, I’ll take a look! Second hand is appealing to me at the moment!

ethicalsingles

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